A BILL to amend and reenact §15-2D-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to powers and duties of the
Director of the Division of Protective Services; requiring the
director to require certain employees of service providers
with the state to submit to a criminal background check under
certain circumstances; requiring certain service providers
provide employee names to comply with provisions of this
section; requiring a clause in future contracts to give the
state powers to prohibit certain persons from certain
activities based on the results of the background check;
defining “service provider”; and designating the Director of
the Division of Protective Services as the person to whom
criminal background check information is released.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §15-2D-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2D. DIVISION OF PROTECTIVE SERVICES.

§15-2D-3. Duties and powers of the director and officers.

(a) The director is responsible for the control and
supervision of the division. The director and any officer of the
division specified by the director may carry designated weapons and
have the same powers of arrest and law enforcement in Kanawha
County as members of the West Virginia State Police as set forth in
subsections (b) and (d), section twelve, article two of this
chapter: Provided, That the director and designated members shall
have such powers throughout the State of West Virginia in
investigating and performing law-enforcement duties for offenses
committed on the Capitol Complex or related to the division’s
security and protection duties at the Capitol Complex: Provided,
however, That the director and designated members shall have said
powers throughout the state relating to offenses and activities
occurring on any property owned, leased or operated by the State of
West Virginia when undertaken at the request of the agency
occupying the property: Provided further, That nothing in this
article shall be construed as to obligate the director or the
division to provide or be responsible for providing security at
state facilities outside the Capitol Complex.

(b) Any officer of the division shall be certified as a law-enforcement officer by the Governor's Committee on Crime,
Delinquency and Correction or may be conditionally employed as a
law-enforcement officer until certified in accordance with the
provisions of section five, article twenty-nine, chapter thirty of
this code.

(c) The director may:

(1) Employ necessary personnel, all of whom shall be
classified exempt, assign them the duties necessary for the
efficient management and operation of the division and specify
members who may carry, without license, weapons designated by the
director;

(2) Contract for security and other services;

(3) Purchase equipment as necessary to maintain security at
the Capitol Complex and other state facilities as may be determined
by the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public
Safety;

(4) Establish and provide standard uniforms, arms, weapons and
other enforcement equipment authorized for use by members of the
division and shall provide for the periodic inspection of the
uniforms and equipment. All uniforms, arms, weapons and other
property furnished to members of the division by the State of West
Virginia is and remains the property of the state;

(5) Appoint security officers to provide security on premises
owned or leased by the State of West Virginia;

(6) Upon request by the superintendent of the West Virginia
State Police, provide security for the Speaker of the West Virginia
House of Delegates, the President of the West Virginia Senate, the
Governor or a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of
Appeals;

(7) Gather information from a broad base of employees at and
visitors to the Capitol Complex to determine their security needs
and develop a comprehensive plan to maintain and improve security
at the Capitol Complex based upon those needs; and

(8) Assess safety and security needs and make recommendations
for safety and security at any proposed or existing state facility
as determined by the Secretary of the Department of Military
Affairs and Public Safety, upon request of the secretary of the
department to which the facility is or will be assigned.

(d) The director shall:

(1) On or before July 1, 1999, propose legislative rules for
promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code. The rules shall, at a minimum,
establish ranks and the duties of officers within the membership of
the division.

(2) On or before July 1, 1999, enter into an interagency
agreement with the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs
and Public Safety and the Secretary of the Department of
Administration, which delineates their respective rights and
authorities under any contracts or subcontracts for security
personnel. A copy of the interagency agreement shall be delivered
to the Governor, the President of the West Virginia Senate and the
Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates and a copy shall be
filed in the office of the Secretary of State and shall be a public
record.

(3) Deliver a monthly status report to the Speaker of the West
Virginia House of Delegates and the President of the West Virginia
Senate.

(e) Require any service provider whose employees are regularly
employed on the grounds or in the buildings of the Capitol complex
or who have access to sensitive or critical information submit to
a fingerprint-based state and federal background inquiry through
the state repository.

(1) After the contract for such services has been approved,
but before any such employees are permitted to be on the grounds or
in the buildings of the Capitol complex or have access to sensitive
or critical information, the service provider shall submit a list
of all persons who will be physically present and working at the
Capitol complex for purposes of verifying compliance with this
section.

(2) All current service providers shall, within ninety days of
the amendment and reenactment of this section by the eightieth
Legislature, ensure that all of its employees who are providing
services on the grounds or in the buildings of the Capitol complex
or who have access to sensitive or critical information submit to
a fingerprint-based state and federal background inquiry through
the state repository.

(3) Any contract entered into, amended or renewed by an agency
or entity of state government with a service provider shall contain
a provision reserving the right to prohibit specific employees
thereof from accessing sensitive or critical information or to be
present at the Capitol complex based upon results addressed from a
criminal background check.

(4) For purposes of this section, the term “service provider”
means any person or company that provides employees to a state
agency or entity of state government to work on the grounds or in
the buildings that makeup the Capitol complex or who have access to
sensitive or critical information.

(5) In accordance with the provisions of Public Law 92-544 the
criminal background check information will be released to the
Director of the Division of Protective Services.